Well-Being Is Associated With Local to Remote Cortical Connectivity

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• Wellbeing is crucial for quality of life and societal function.
• Previous research focused on brain morphology and network connectivity, neglecting local-to-remote cortical connectivity.
• Local-to-remote cortical connectivity is vital for human brain architecture.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between local-to-remote cortical connectivity and wellbeing.
• To explore the neural underpinnings of wellbeing across its emotional, psychological, and social dimensions.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 60 healthy participants.
• Assessment of wellbeing using the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (emotional, psychological, social dimensions).
• Analysis of local connectivity using Regional Homogeneity (ReHo) and remote connectivity using seed-based functional connectivity.

Main Results:

• Regional Homogeneity (ReHo) in the right orbitofrontal sulcus correlated positively with psychological wellbeing and negatively with social wellbeing.
• Psychological wellbeing was positively associated with connectivity within the right orbitofrontal cortex and interhemispheric connectivity of the orbitofrontal sulcus.
• Social wellbeing showed a positive association with functional connectivity between the right orbitofrontal sulcus and the left postcentral sulcus.

Conclusions:

• Wellbeing is demonstrably associated with local-to-remote cortical connectivity.
• Findings offer novel insights into the distance-related neural mechanisms underlying wellbeing.
• The study highlights the importance of specific cortical connections in psychological and social wellbeing.